1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of hinges for doors and, more specifically, to hinges that provide stops for a door at predetermined degrees of being open in order to restrict the door from striking an adjacent wall.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional doors are supported on a door jamb by a plurality of hinge sets which allow for the door to pivot between a closed position and an open position. Typically, such swinging doors are provided with one of numerous well-known stops in order to prevent the opening of a door from causing damage to the door, door knob or adjacent wall.
For example, floor and baseboard mounted door bumpers are effective at keeping a door from striking an adjacent wall. However, these bumpers damage the surface to which they are mounted, can damage the door as it strikes against the bumper, may be a tripping hazard and are generally unaesthetic.
As another example, it is well known to adhere a strike plate on the wall that is adjacent to the swinging door. Such strike plates provide a surface against which the door knob strikes. Disadvantageously, these strike plates are fairly large and look awkward on the wall, particularly when the door is closed.
Hinge pin door stops are also conventionally known. These stops include two padded posts which respectively engage against the door and adjacent wall when the door is fully opened. While these stops function adequately for their intended purpose, repeated impact of the post against the hollow core door or adjacent wall will often result in damage. Repeated use also causes the padding to break down, resulting in more aggressive damage to the door or wall.
In an attempt to overcome the limitations of the aforementioned door stops, a variety of door stops are known in which the hinge has been modified and/or additional parts added thereto in order to reduce the likelihood of the respective stop from damaging the door or adjacent wall. For example, such door stops are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,197,791; 6,353,967; 5,765,263; 1,683,814 and 1,455,550. However, such door stops are overly complicated in their configuration, difficult to manufacture, include additional parts that could be lost and/or may not be sufficiently robust to withstand significant force and fatigue.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art of continued improvement of door stops. Particularly, there is a need for a door stop that is simple in configuration, has the appearance of a normal door hinge when in use, will not cause damage to the door or adjacent wall and is capable long term repeated use without requiring repair or replacement.